Well, according to the full scale replica of Stonehenge that I have sitting in my living room (which is right next to my exact copy of the Sphinx and down the hall from my faux Taj Mahal – it’s incredible what you can fit in a 900 ft.² apartment with a little ingenuity) summer is over and autumn is now upon us. Time for packing away the seersucker, preparing for the harvest, and getting ready for the ceremonial sacrificing of virgins. Luckily, there are no virgins available in my apartment, so we’ll probably make do with sacrificing some gourmet chocolates.

Wish I could say I had an exciting summer, but this one was actually quite dull. A big shout out to Multiple Sclerosis for that one, as the beast has been heavy-handed with me these last few months. Even though I have progressive disease and the overall trajectory of my symptoms is always steadily downward, their severity does tend to inexplicably wax and wane a bit. The last few months they’ve definitely been waxing, and boy, I’m more than ready for a little wane – and I’m not talking about L’il Wayne, the notorious hip-hop artist (click here).

Alas, my replica of the Temple of the Oracle at Delphi tells me that it’s time for another edition of Bits and Pieces, my semi regular compendium of interesting MS related news and notions. Can’t argue with the Oracle at Delphi, lest mighty Zeus unleash a lightning bolt in my direction, and really, I have enough problems. So here goes…

♦ First up, some MS drug news. A study out of Italy has found that Tysabri is even more effective in real life clinical practice than it was during the trials that led to its approval for use in treating RRMS (click here). This study of 343 patients from 12 Italian MS centers found that, over time, treatment with Tysabri resulted in a 68% reduction in MS relapses, that 93% of treated patients saw no disease progression, and that 53% of Tysabri treated patients were free of any signs of disease activity. Very impressive numbers, to say the least, despite the fact that Tysabri is not without its concerns (chiefly the possibility of contracting opportunistic infections, primarily PML, a potentially fatal infection of the brain).

When Tysabri was first introduced I was highly dubious of the stuff, thinking that the drug’s dangers far outweighed its potential benefits, but I must admit that time has, it seems, proven me wrong. I personally know a quite a number of RRMS patients whose lives have been dramatically improved by Tysabri, some so much so that they refuse to come off the drug even after developing a higher risk of contracting PML. I’m still not entirely comfortable with the idea of screwing with the workings of the human immune system for years on end, and it pisses me off immensely that medical science (or at least the pharmaceutical companies) seems content at treating the disease rather than curing it, but if I was a newly diagnosed RRMS patient with a low risk of developing PML (in other words, negative for JC virus antibodies), given all of the available data starting Tysabri would certainly high on my list of treatment options. That's honestly something I thought I'd never say six or seven years ago. There are currently trials ongoing testing Tysabri on progressive disease, and it will be very interesting to see how those turn out.

♦ There’ve recently been a spate of headlines to the effect that “HIV May Help Prevent Multiple Sclerosis” (click here). The basis for these headlines is a study that looked at MS rates among people infected with the HIV virus (the virus that causes AIDS), which found that HIV-infected people were far less likely to develop Multiple Sclerosis then the general population (click here). What could be behind these shocking findings? Well, it’s certainly possible that the HIV virus itself has some kind of anti-MS properties. It’s also possible that HIV, which can do serious damage to the human immune system, suppresses the aberrant immune cells that are thought to lead to the development of Multiple Sclerosis. More intriguing, though, is the possibility that the anti-retroviral drugs given to treat HIV patients, which have become extremely effective over the last decade, may be doing something to curtail the development of MS in HIV infected people.

About a year and a half ago I wrote about an emerging theory that ancient retroviruses which have become part of human DNA over millions of years of evolution may be behind a variety of illnesses, including cancer, schizophrenia, and, yes, so-called autoimmune diseases like Multiple Sclerosis (click here). These ancient viruses are in the same class of virus as HIV, called retroviruses. Long thought to be simply “junk DNA” and merely innocuous remnants of the ancient past, it’s recently been found that some of these viral bits, which are part of every human beings’ genetic structure, might be activated by the presence of certain environmental factors (other viruses, bacteria, or toxins), and thus cause all kinds of trouble. This hypothesis provides an elegant explanation of autoimmunity, in that, if correct, it would mean that under certain conditions our own cells might act as attackers, thus initiating a response by our body's own immune system.

Could it be that the powerful antiretroviral drugs being given to HIV patients are shutting down these ancient retroviruses (called Human Endogenous Retroviruses, or HERVs), and so are preventing the HIV-infected people on these drugs from developing Multiple Sclerosis? An intriguing possibility, and one which is currently being investigated by a group in London who are using some off-the-shelf HIV drugs to treat MS patients in a trial that is now underway (click here). Additionally, another related trial being conducted by a research group in Switzerland is testing a drug specifically designed to target an ancient retrovirus that has been linked by some scientists directly to Multiple Sclerosis. This group recently released the results of a small preliminary trial which tested the drug on progressive MS patients and showed it to be safely tolerated. Furthermore, the trial demonstrated some early indications that the drug may be effective in treating the disease (click here).

This is exciting stuff which could potentially change the way we view and treat many dread diseases in some very profound ways. My gut tells me that there is really something to this research, and I only wish more time, money, and effort was being devoted towards fully exploring this hypothesis and its many implications.

♦ Yet more research on viruses and MS: a recently released study using new testing methods found that the spinal fluid of Multiple Sclerosis patients is rich in antibodies targeted at Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV) and Human Herpes Virus-6 (HHV-6), rather than against human myelin and nervous system tissues, as might be expected if MS were truly an “autoimmune” disease (click here). Epstein-Barr Virus, and to a somewhat lesser extent HHV-6, have long been suspected in playing some role in the MS disease process. Fascinatingly, both of these viruses have been implicated in activating HERVs , the ancient retroviruses that I discussed in the previous item. Could it perhaps be that in genetically susceptible people, common infections such as EBV (which is carried by more than 90% of the population) can turn on DNA switches that lead the immune system to attack tissues of the central nervous system? In the decades before the autoimmune theory took hold, much of MS research was directed at finding the presumed infectious cause of the disease. Perhaps these now discounted theories were in fact on the right track, and strict adherence to autoimmune dogma over the last 20 years has led MS research astray. Again, clues like those divulged by this study demand that more attention be paid to this area of research.

♦ Here’s one that belongs in the MS version of Ripley’s Believe It or Not. The gold standard of medical research is the double-blind trial, in which one group of patients is given whatever treatment is under study and another is given a placebo (such as a sugar pill or saline solution), so that the responses between the two groups can be compared. In MS research, one of the most common measures by which an experimental drug’s efficacy is judged are annual relapse rates, the number of MS attacks experienced by relapsing remitting test subjects over the course of a year. Strangely, over the last two decades the annual relapse rates of patients in the placebo arms of late stage drug trials has dropped by half (click here). That’s right, since the 1990s the rate of relapses experienced by patients being given “fake” drugs has declined by 50%, while the rates of people getting MS worldwide have gone up (click here). And no one knows why. Isn’t that reassuring?

♦ Some more reassuring news: I came across a list of the 15 most misdiagnosed diseases (click here), and wouldn’t you know it, our good friend and close confidant Multiple Sclerosis is right up there. Given the many mysteries surrounding MS and the fact that there is no diagnostic test that definitively determines whether or not a patient does indeed have MS, this really shouldn’t come as much of a surprise. Truth is, most experts peg the misdiagnosis rate of MS at somewhere between 5%-15%, meaning that perhaps 1 out of 10 of the MS patients reading this don’t actually have the disease. There are literally dozens if not hundreds of diseases and conditions which can mimic MS. Here’s an academic paper on the subject, which lists at its end 100 illnesses that can be mistaken for MS (click here). It’s easy to drive yourself crazy with such information, so be careful, but if you suspect you may have been misdiagnosed, there’s a reasonable chance that you could be right.

♦ The relationship between diet and MS has become a very hot topic of late. Through the years, many different diets have been said to be “anti-MS”, most often low-fat or low-carb diets rich in anti-inflammatory and antioxidant foods. In fact, I’m currently trying the Paleo diet, a way of eating that is supposed to resemble the dietary habits of our ancient ancestors. The theory is that the function of our digestive systems evolved over the millions of years that our forebears were hunter gatherers, and that much of what we’ve taken to eating since the discovery of agriculture some 10,000 years ago is actually bad for our health. The Paleo diet cuts out all sugar, dairy, wheat, and some of the most common cultivated crops. This means that people on the diet can’t eat bread, milk, cheese, rice, potatoes, corn, or many of the other staples of the modern menu.

Given the fact that I’m giving Paleo a try, my interest was quite peaked by this article (click here), which details the results of a study that followed dietary habits of 185,000 women over 20 years and found that diet seems to have absolutely no impact whatsoever on whether or not they developed Multiple Sclerosis. In fact, the numbers appeared to show that those eating what is considered to be an unhealthy Western diet developed MS in lesser numbers, although this trend did not reach statistical significance.

Now, I know there are many patients who swear that a radical change in diet has noticeably lessened the impact of their disease and some have gone as far as to claim that diet can even cure MS, and I’m certain that most of these claims are made in all earnestness. I'm not saying that this study is the last word on the subject, but it should provide food for thought (pun intended). At the very least a healthy diet is, well, healthy, and that can only be a good thing especially for people suffering from chronic illness. And for those who are wondering how I’m doing after more than two months on the Paleo diet, I’m sorry to report that I’m feeling pretty crappy, worse, I think, than before starting the diet. I have dropped a few pounds, which is definitely good since I was beginning to resemble a walrus (sitting in a wheelchair does nothing for the physique), but given my lack of results otherwise I believe my time eating like a caveman may be drawing to a close. I’m thinking that the next diet I try might be one of my own invention, which I dub the “Nothing But Philly Cheesesteaks Diet”. Probably not very healthy but… Yum.

♦ Okay, time for yet another edition of ASININE RESEARCH! Once again, I present another in apparently endless stream of studies that that delve into the ever enigmatic conundrum that is the relationship between multiple sclerosis, difficulty walking, and falling down. This topic really seems to float the boats of top-notch medical researchers who apparently can’t get enough of publishing papers probing the seemingly unfathomable relationship between a crippling disease and its patently obvious effects on ambulation.

Today’s asinine research paper is tantalizingly titled “Concern about Falling Is Associated with Step Length in Persons with Multiple Sclerosis” (click here). The abstract starts out with this sentence: “Fear of falling is one of the major concerns of people with multiple sclerosis.” Yes, yes, a dazzling observation! And fear of ruining ones undergarments is one of the major concerns of people suffering from explosive diarrhea. From this auspicious start, the paper goes on to detail research looking at how concern about falling alters the way MS patients walk. While investigators suffering from severe oxygen deprivation might assume that MS patients stride like Rockettes and strut about with all of the bravura of a young Mike Tyson, after much mumbo-jumbo about “spatio-temporal parameters of gait” and “gait asymmetry patterns” this study instead shockingly finds that multiple sclerosis patients tend to walk slower and take smaller steps than their healthy counterparts, and that this astounding effect is greater in those with a higher fear of falling. The study concludes by postulating that measuring step length might be a good tool for assessing the level of fear of falling in people with MS. I suppose assessing the level of terror on their faces is just too bothersome.

Did it ever occur to the researchers that MS patients walked slower and took smaller steps as a result of the disease, and that this might in fact be the reason behind their fear of falling and not the other way around? I certainly don’t remember having a healthy fear of falling before, you know, the disease took a hammer to the connection between my brain and my legs and left me no choice other than to walk slower and take smaller steps. In fact, these days if my steps get any smaller or my walking gets any slower my attempts at ambulation might better be termed "standing still". Yes, this all makes for a frightening experience, but it's not the fear that keeps my legs from moving, it's some little-known phenomena called "weakness" and "paralysis". Sheesh.

♦ It’s become my custom over the past several Bits and Pieces posts to end with some music from the “Neo-Soul/Retro-Soul” movement. Words can’t express how smitten I am with much of this music, which never fails to put some funk in my junk, some glide in my stride, some pep in my step, and some growl in my prowl. Hey, wait a minute, as mentioned above these days I can barely manage a stride, step, or prowl, so I’ll have to amend that – this funky stuff puts some chimp in my limp, some jumble in my stumble, and some gall in my fall. Can I get an Amen? Hallelujah!

The following ditty is by St. Paul and the Broken Bones, a band I was lucky enough to see at a free concert outside of Lincoln Center a few months ago. I went to the show primarily to see Charles Bradley, who I featured in a previous Bits and Pieces, but I was unexpectedly blown away by these guys, who I’d never heard of before they took the stage. As I mentioned earlier, this summer wasn’t a particularly terrific one in my book, but this show was definitely a highlight…

So glad you like the music. Couldn't believe how good St. Paul and The Broken Bones were when I saw them this summer.

I've found that most "dense" medical topics are made dense by the almost impenetrable language the medical types use to discuss them. The trick is to replace their million dollar words with 10 csent words, and suddenly you've broken their code. Knowledge is power, and power to the people!

Thank you for the MS news updates, as usual! Always appreciated. And loved the song! You need a commission, I just bought the album.Oh, and the above spam letter (which will probably be deleted)..."contact XXXX if...(7) (7) You want to tie your husband/wife to be yours foreve"Major giggles. ;p

Somehow, I don't think Apple is going to give me a commission. Just nice that so many people like this month's musical selection.

As for the spam , which I did delete, It's merely an example of the kind of spam that attempts to get posted at least several times every day. Luckily, the Blogger software usually filters out these comments, but they are why I set things up so that comments on posts older than one week require my okay before they get posted. Kind of a pain in the butt, but otherwise half the comments on this blog would be spam…

That diet bit was interesting, which isn't to say the rest wasn't. (Talk about auspicious beginnings.) I was on and have since mostly abandoned the Swank Diet. I wasn't feeling any better and it was a PITA. Sorry to hear Paleo isn't helping you at all. Here's hoping for some good news on the Tysabri/progressive MS front...

Thanks for the warning to the anxiety-ridden: I am decidedly NOT clicking on the link to diseases I might really have instead of MS. Lord. That fear plagues me. One day, the neuro will turn to me, eyes brimming with sympathy, and say, "Ms. CrankyPants, my bad. You really have [insert terrifying and deadly disease here]."

I only wish that I'd see even a smidgen of the results some claim to have experienced via a change in diet. Given how much of my body has gone into revolt, eating is one of the few pleasures from my healthy days I can still partake in without making concessions to the disease. Still, the Paleo hasn't been too hard, and I did drop a few pounds. Having said that, I think my time sticking to it fastidiously is over, but I will definitely continue to cut down on lots of carbs and sugars.

I can completely understand your reticence about clicking on the misdiagnosis link. It does open up a can of worms, but with the high rate of MS misdiagnosis I do think it's important that patients at the very least get a good understanding of some of the differential diagnoses that are possible. Although some of the possible alternate diagnoses are worse than MS, some are more treatable, so for me, at least, exploring these possibilities was a can worth opening. Not that anything has come of it, as my case remains unclassifiable. Still, it's valuable information as long as it doesn't fuel an obsession…

Karen, thanks for your "bravo". One of the best things about my blogging experience has been that it gives me a platform to disseminate all the information I come across during my endless digging into MS research. Getting this disease definitely woke up my inner scientist, but all things considered, I'd rather that alarm clock had never gone off…

Amen, and thanks for the article. I thought I was listing to Otis Redding at first when I listened to your selection! So happy my ears seem to be working, although he may not sound like OR it sure sounds good.

I think the Otis Redding comparison is right on. Of course, St. Paul has a long way to go before he can even be considered alongside Otis, but for somebody just starting out, that's pretty heady company.

How great is it that people are making this brand of music again? Thank heavens…

Marc,I am sorry to hear that you did not notice any improvement on the Paleo diet. After 2 months, I think you would have noticed something. If/when you stop eating like a caveman, perhaps you may consider adding back the foods you cut out one at a time. When you reintroduce a food, you may experience symptoms that would let you know that the food was problematic. For example, the Philly cheese steak diet would include the meat on the roll or the meat with just cheese before you put them together. (I know ... after 2 months haven't you suffered enough?) There is the possibility that reintroducing the foods may make you feel worse. (not fair!)

Thanks for your advice, much appreciated. It will be interesting to see how I feel once I go off of the diet. I'm definitely not going back to my old eating habits, which included lots of comfort foods (in other words, cakes and desserts) which certainly weren't doing me any good. I figure I'll allow mysel decadent dessert a week, along with cheese and bread on occasion. It's way too easy to pack on the pounds when stuck in a wheelchair…

Amen!!I loved 'big shout out to MS!' Still chuckling. I probably will peruse the 100 not MS options available. But it did come with a warning label so you did your due diligence. Thanks for keeping us up to speed in all the research, real and asinine.

that group is incredible, and who would have ever thought to look at the lead singer that he could do what he did!

By the way Marc, I left you a message and a link on Facebook about the Ekso suit, which I am presently using with great success. I am the same level of disability as you are. There is one of these available at Mount Sinai – – they are using it in their rehab facility

Hi Connie, just goes to show, you just can't judge of book by its cover, or a singer by his looks. Though I must admit I was quite surprised when I heard THAT voice come out of THAT body.

Sorry I didn't respond to your Facebook comment, I rarely venture onto Facebook other than to put up these posts. I will research the Ekso suit, sounds very interesting. My case is kind of complicated, which keeps me from using a lot of physical therapy options, but this one definitely seems worth checking out. Thanks.

Re Your paleo experience: I've suspected the Wahls diet has the same iffy results with people who try it. Not that you find that out on her website and not that she isn't entirely earnest in what it has done for her and her intentions for others. But philly cheesesteak? Seriously? Oy, the relatives who are spinning in their graves. I laughed at your walrus comment. I feel like one too because I sit for most of my day, though get from room to room with my trusty rollator. Very cool reward at the end of this edition of your blog too, for those of us who clicked on the list of diseases sometimes mistaken for MS and experienced of a plunge in mood, temporary thanks to you and Saint Paul and the Broken Bones.

Hello, just wanted to say that Paleo diet alone might not be enough. As Dr. Wahls experienced herself (she recovered from her progressive MS) when she was on Paleo diet her disease was still progressing. Only when she modified the diet (that's why she calls it Wahls diet) she started recovering. The modification consisted on focusing on foods that are beneficial to mitochondria, like various vegetables and berries. Now she also stresses on consuming bone broth and fermented foods, for example. So there is plenty to try and see what works for you, because there is a lot of variability from person to person. Good luck!Gideon

Olivia, I have the same suspicions about folks who go on the Dr. Wahl's diet as you do. I'm sure some see benefit, but there's likely a lot who do not. Unfortunately, the diet is so hyped that I fear a lot of people think of themselves as "failures" when they don't see the kind of improvements often touted. That said, I don't think Dr. Wahls is selling snake oil, it's just that multiple sclerosis is a very difficult disease that differs greatly from patient to patient. Thus the high levels of misdiagnosis, and my apologies for bringing your mood down when you clicked on the link. As I've said before, though, knowledge is power, but knowledge can also be a little bit dangerous.

Gideon, you are spot on when you say there is a lot of variability from person-to-person. A change in diet is definitely worth a shot, even if the improvements it brings about are incremental and not miraculous. As far as I'm concerned, doing nothing in the face of the disease is not an option, and I do believe that helping "feed" mitochondria can be greatly beneficial to many patients. Please keep in mind, this can be done through the use of natural supplements, as well. One supplement in particular, MitoQ, is directly targeted at directing powerful antioxidants at the mitochondria. Again, it's not a one-size-fits-all approach, but just another avenue to explore. Thanks for your comments.

Hi Marc, I had a really hard time when I dropped the wheat, mainly with my gut, so you need probiotics. Check out Dr William Davis blog site for more info (author of wheat belly and other books). But my migraines stopped, I lost 15 #s. That was two years ago so other major health adv was normal blood sugar, went from being prediabetic to normal! I will never touch wheat again, let alone eat it. It is not meant for human consumption. So the phrase healthy whole grain is a damn lie, and I'm glad the word is finally getting out there. So for your health sake pls lose the bun on your Philly cheesesteak.

Hi Kelly, thanks for the very valuable advice. I do see a naturopathic physician, who works out of my neurologists MS clinic, who recommends trying a wheat free diet to many patients when she first sees them. This is because a high percentage of patients are gluten intolerant, and cutting out wheat and other sources of gluten can make a tremendous difference for these folks. Again, it's not a one-size-fits-all approach, but something definitely worth trying. It will be interesting to see what happens when I finally do eat some bread, which is going to happen sooner rather than later. If I see any ill effects, I will definitely cut bread entirely out of my diet, as I've found living without it much easier than I expected. Thanks so much for your well wishes, and for contributing to this blog.

Hey Marc, thanks for posting the link to the paper about other conditions that mimic MS. Besides the fact that the number one actual diagnosis for people who may be dx'd with MS is some psychiatric disorder (like hypochondria, ahem), it was number two that caught my eye:

"The second largest diagnostic category of “non-MS” patients is normal people describing everyday sensations that are misconstrued as abnormal."

First time I've ever seen PwMS differentiated from "normal" people. What about my normal? Don't our everyday sensations count as our normal? What is normal?

Yes, indeed, what is normal? Not sure I can define normal with any clarity, but I definitely can identify abnormal. It's kind of like at what point something crosses the line between erotic and pornographic, it's hard to describe it but you know it when you see it.

Despite the clumsy wording you point out, I do think it's easy to misconstrue some relatively minor "normal" sensations and conflate them into the beginnings of a horrible disease. That said, sometimes they are the beginnings of a horrible disease. It's awfully hard to discern what merits worry and what doesn't.

Hi Marc,It always frustrates me that more people aren't researching the HERV connection to MS, or Dr. Pender's research on developing a natural vaccine to to the EBV. I contacted him expressing my interest and belief in his research and he was kind enough to get back to me-unfortunately his research has only expanded to include 10 more participants, but he is hopeful that one day it will transform into a widespread cure for all of us. Not in my lifetime, I fear.

Sandy, the entire medical research model is incredibly frustrating. The problem is that it's increasingly become profit motivated, which means that lots of very promising research remains underfunded simply because there is no obvious profit potential. The research on endogenous retroviruses could very well upend much current medical dogma, and thus can be perceived as a threat to the establishment. Ridiculous that these concerns come into play when we are talking about combating viral diseases, but it's an awfully tangled web…

Thanks for sharing! I love reading your posts and I feel so much smarter afterward. I need all the help I can get. Right now I am in research denial and delaying looking at the next MS drug my doc has proposed I try (I am a Tecfidera fail - risk for infection just dropped too low). I hate that all the results are pegged against a placebo. Heck, I get the impression that taking dirt would be better than nothing when I read some of these. Sure wish I could see effective rates of each drug in comparison with one another...but competition doesn't like comparison. I also like your comments on diet. I swear by the eat food diet, and do so every day. Best of luck with your efforts.

Latest "research" indicates that doing the salsa, exercising, leating less salt etc reduces the symptoms of MS. Participants (of course, they were also on Gilenya) were out being so normal, riding horses, doing yoga and no replases. And of course, mentioning that MS does not necessarily lead to decline. My question, how many of the "researchers" have MS. numbness, vertigo, spasticity, optic neuritis etc. Well, I think you get my point. When is it going to get real and study the progressive cases and admit propaganda is alive and thriving????Tried the Kool-Aid and didn't like the taste.

yeah, diggin on the broken bones! i did the wahl's protocol (hardcore paleo) for about 8 months, with absolutely zero result, not even a tiny bit of weight loss. while i believe it is basically a good way to eat (no sugar, little to no processed carbs, etc.), if i never see another kale smoothie, it'll be too soon for me. i also tried the swank diet, again no result. maybe they work for RRMS, but not to SPMS? before i was DX, atkins worked remarkably well, i lost a lot of weight. then i got pneumonia and then my DX (connected? perhaps)

I think that Big Pharma should look into other types of therapy to patent, like Vacation Therapy. I, personally, would require it about 4x's per year and it would shut me up from publicly complaining about the industry.

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Regretfully, due to the high volume of e-mail received and the realities of living with progressive MS, I'll no longer be able to respond to all e-mails sent. I do read each note, and will do my best to answer as many messages as I can.

About Me

I'm Marc, a 53-year-old male, living in New York City with my lovely and wonderful wife Karen. Diagnosed with Primary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis in March of 2003, I now require a wheelchair to get around the city. I like to drive the wheelchair at full speed, thus the moniker "Wheelchair Kamikaze". I've managed to rig a camera to my chair, so I'm able to take videos and still photos from the unique vantage point of a wheelchair, which I intend to post here.
Before getting sick, I was the Director of DVD Production for one of the major international music companies. Yes, I was once a member of the Evil Empire...
Prior to my enlistment in the Evil Empire, I worked as a video producer and editor.
I grew up in New York City, and spent the 1980s in Boston (college and postcollege rock 'n roll craziness). During the 1990s, I lived in South Florida, until I woke up one morning and realized I was living in South Florida, came to my senses, and moved back to New York.
I hope you like my blog...